It is not easy to be a climber. The soft-shell mussel fishery – the second most valuable fishery in the state last year – is facing increasing pressure during climate change and is being plucked apart by the invasive green crab.
But a new problem has emerged in the last two years as the pandemic ignited a property explosion along the Maine coast: it’s getting harder for mussel diggers to get to the tidal flats at all to make a living.
Clammers up and down the coast report that access points to the mud are rapidly disappearing as new people buy homes and are not interested in continuing old handshake agreements that allowed clammers to cross their property to get out on the apartments.
“If you’re on the coast, chances are you have very deep pockets,” said Kevin Oliver, a longtime mussel digger from North Yarmouth. “If you have a nice mansion, you typically don’t want people walking across your property.”
While clammers from Harpswell to Lubec said it has always been a struggle to keep some of these deals going – a cock of mussels can often smooth the deal – many have fallen off the road in the last two years as the properties turn around. New owners are often either difficult to reach or are not interested in getting climbers to walk across their patios.
Amanda Lyons, a clammer in Lubec, had about two dozen access points she used before the pandemic. They ranged from public landings and trails to these ubiquitous informal deals with local property owners.
She estimates she has lost about 10 since then and has seen many “no intrusion” signs and gates go up in the last two years.
“Many handshake deals that have been in place for 20, 30 years are not there,” she said.
This loss of access has increased barriers and the overhead cost of entering the fishery, which historically always had one of the lowest access bars. Unlike the state’s most valuable fishery, lobster fishing, clamming can be done without expensive equipment and large boats. It is highly dependent on a will to live a life around the tide and crooked in the mud.
Private access points to the public apartments are essential because they are often the shortest and easiest routes for mussels to bring their sledges laden with hundreds of pounds of mussels ashore.
But as these short canals are cut off, Mike Pinkham, the mussel keeper in Gouldsboro, said more mussels have to resort to using boats – often small aluminum boats or canoes – that allow them to travel from longer access points to the apartments that is. most productive at any given time of the year.
In southern Maine, many have started using airboats, which has triggered new problems with property owners on the coastline due to noise.
However, the use of a boat can add several hours to a day’s work, as well as an increasing degree of danger to the year-round job. While this may not seem like a big deal to some, Pinkham likened it to regularly having to drive through a blizzard to get to work.
“The sea can change and raise its ugly head at any time,” he said. “They do not have large lobster boats – they have 14 to 16 foot slates.”
It is difficult to say exactly how much access has been lost since the pandemic. There is no iron-clad count of how many access points there were in the first place, as many of these were not written down, and some are outright secrets.
But these informal agreements appear to be falling by the wayside, prompting officials to pursue more formal easements, preservation measures and potential tax breaks for landowners who allow access. Several communities have begun to figure out which access points are still open and what has been lost.
Jessica Joyce, chair of the Casco Bay Regional Shellfish Working Group and a member of the State Shellfish Advisory Council, said access has quickly become one of the biggest problems in the fishery and she has been working to map access points in the Casco Bay region. Pinkham is doing similar work in Gouldsboro and is teaming up with the Maine Coast Heritage Trust to potentially preserve access points.
There are also attempts to reinforce the access that still exists.
Harvesters in Harpswell plan to hold a picnic for landowners later in the summer and sprinkle them with clam chowder, steamers and oysters. Paul Plummer, the city’s administrator for marine resources, hopes it allows clammers and landowners to potentially break down barriers and stereotypes that either may have.
“We hope it can really build a bridge between the two parties,” he said.
The property bonanza along the coast has also spurred some communities to reconsider how they regulate mussel fishing. In Maine, cities can implement local rules on mussels, and mussel licenses are often tied to residence permits.
But in Harpswell, there is a fear that clammers could be pushed out of the coastal community, meaning they will also lose their chance to reap the city’s flats.
The city recently changed its rules that would allow resident harvesters who have lived in the city for at least five years to retain their resident status even if they moved out of the city as long as they continue to perform the already required conservation work and retain their license. up to date.
“Coastal gentrification makes it nearly impossible for these combine harvesters to stay in the city,” Plummer said. “I think the city of Harpswell recognized that there are not many affordable housing or labor housing in the city.”
Diggers, whom one bracket described as the “roaming cats” of the fishing world, are not entirely innocent when it comes to loss of access. Warders and clammers have anecdotes about clammers leaving rubbish or being rude to homeowners, which makes property owners wonder if the “no intrusion” signs are a good idea.
Dustin Black, a clammer in Lamoine, wished they would not all be painted with the same wide brush.
“There are some diggers who are likely to leave garbage and stuff like that,” Black said. “But most of us clean it up when we see it.”
Efforts to restore access are all fairly new. Oliver, North Yarmouth clammer, said it is crucial to repair these fences with landowners now so the fishery can focus on its other daunting challenges.
“I support any effort to help maintain these access points,” he said. “They are more critical than ever as the price of real estate continues to rise.”
This story is shown through a partnership with Bangor Daily News.
